1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an automotive hood assembly for covering an engine compartment of the vehicle. More particularly, the present invention provides a hood assembly having a sealing member projecting therefrom which allows greater access to the engine compartment area.
2. Disclosure Information
With the advent of front wheel drive vehicles, smaller vehicles and the emergence and increasing use of "cab forward" vehicle designs wherein the passenger compartment of the vehicle is moved closer to the front end of the vehicle, the amount of available space in the engine compartment area of the vehicle is decreasing. It is becoming increasingly difficult to design vehicle bodies and engine compartments which provide more than a limited amount of access area to the engine compartment by the vehicle operator or a mechanic when the vehicle hood is in an open position.
FIG. 1 shows a typical known vehicle 10 including a hood member 12 disposed over an engine compartment 14 holding an engine 16 mounted parallel to the transverse axis of the vehicle as shown by line B. As illustrated, hood 12 is in the open position. The vehicle 10 further includes a windshield 18 disposed directly behind a ventilation opening 20 which provides fresh air intake to the vehicle passenger compartment. A dash panel 22 or other cross rail member such as the cowl is interposed between the engine compartment 14 and the ventilation opening 20. The dash panel 22 includes a sealing strip 24 fabricated from a synthetic polymeric material which prevents engine compartment fumes from passing through the ventilation opening 20 into the passenger compartment of the vehicle As shown in FIG. 1, the sealing strip 24 is disposed along the entire transverse length of the dash panel 22. When the hood 12 is closed, its trailing edge 26 compresses the seal 24 on the dash panel 22, thereby preventing engine compartment fumes from entering the ventilation opening 20. Alternatively, the seal 24 could be disposed along the entire transverse length of the trailing edge 26 of the hood member 12. Typically, the trailing edge 26 is generally linear between the outboard ends 28, 30 of the hood member 12.
FIG. 2 shows a cross sectional view along line 2--2 of FIG. 1 As shown in FIG. 2, line A--A defines the clearance path required to perform engine maintenance on the rearward side of the engine 16, such as, for example, replacing the engine spark plugs. The line A--A limits the forward position of the hood seal member 24. A "cab forward" design vehicle is shown in broken lines in FIG. 2. In the cab forward design, the windshield 18 is disposed forwardly along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle (line C, FIG. 1). The ventilation opening 20 must remain the approximate size as on prior art vehicles as to provide proper ventilation to the passenger compartment and therefore the opening 20 shifts forwardly as well. Because the opening 20 shifts forwardly, hood 12 must also shift forwardly resulting in the forward shifting of the hood seal 24 to be disposed in front of line A--A representing the access area to the rearward side of engine 16. In this instance, since the hood seal 24 is forward of the line defining the engine service access area, it is impossible for an operator to get to that area of the engine required to remove and replace the rear bank of spark plugs without partially or totally disconnecting the engine 16 from its mounts and moving it forward and/or down, resulting in a very significant increase in time and labor.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide some means to increase the access area to the engine compartment 14 while still providing the forward movement of the windshield 18.